Conjuntura Austral: Announcements

Edição Especial: The African security landscape twenty years after the creation of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union: successes, failures, challenges and achievements

2023-12-20T10:28:19-03:00

The beginning of the 21st century marked the inauguration of a period of important transformations for the African continent. Since decolonization, Africa has experienced a complex process of state formation marked by political instability, economic crises, and international marginalization. After these four decades, the continent has come to occupy a space of increasing prominence in international relations. In addition to emerging as a new commercial and investment frontier, Africa also began to show significant economic growth rates and improvements in numerous social indicators, as well as consolidating its position as an important international supplier of raw materials and consumer markets, which contributed to its transformation into an object of geopolitical, economic and strategic interests on the part of traditional and emerging powers.

This process, known as the African Renaissance, had among its main pillars the transformation, in 2002, of the Organization of African Unity into the African Union (AU), an organization aimed at increasing integration and cooperation on the continent, and with substantive differences from its predecessor, especially concerning conflict management on the continent. Among the main changes was the replacement of the principle of non-interference, which was paramount for its predecessor, with that of non-indifference, as well as the quest to provide the continent with tools, previously non-existent, that would be capable of guaranteeing continental stability and security.

In this context, the AU developed a new security paradigm for the continent, embodied in the African Peace and Security Architecture, intending to increase its capacity to deal with threats and maintain peace and security on the continent. Thus, in May 2004, the AU's main decision-making body for issues relating to peace and security on the continent, the Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union, came into operation. It became responsible for promoting peace, security, and stability in Africa, above all, by anticipating and preventing conflicts, carrying out actions to promote and maintain peace (peacemaking), and developing and implementing peacebuilding activities.

Since then, the body has played an important role in stabilizing the continent, among other things by authorizing AU peacekeeping operations and also by adopting sanctions against regimes established through coups d'état. Despite this, throughout this period the PSC has also faced a series of difficulties and limitations to its work, which pose challenges to the effective exercise of its powers and the full achievement of its objectives. As a result, even though the African Union is much more active than its predecessor in continental stabilization efforts, this action is still significantly limited, meaning that Africa still faces major security challenges.

It is against this backdrop, and considering the celebration of twenty years of the PSC's existence, that this edition of Conjuntura Austral invites experts, researchers, and academics to contribute with their perspectives and analyses on the African continent's security landscape in the 21st century, with special attention to the work of the African Union Peace and Security Council during this period. In this context, we hope to receive papers that propose discussions not only on the transformations of the African security landscape but also on the role of the PSC itself, reflecting on its achievements and successes, as well as its limitations and failures.

Full articles must be sent by June 21, 2024, and submitted through the journal's system, which can be accessed at this link. Papers can be written in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, and all articles will undergo a double-blind peer review process, with no fees charged by the journal. The publication guidelines and rules, as well as the submission instructions, can be found on the journal's website at this link. The selected articles are scheduled to be published in the journal's v.15, n.72 (Oct.-Dec.) issue.

Any questions or queries regarding this special issue of the journal can be sent to the journal's editorial team (conjunturaaustral@ufrgs.br) and also to the editors of the dossier, Guilherme Ziebell de Oliveira (guilherme.ziebell@ufrgs.br), Jerónimo Delgado-Caicedo (jeronimo.delgado@uexternado.edu.co), Silvia Perazzo (silviaperazzo@anu-ar.org) and Myrna Rodríguez Añuez (myrna.ranuez@correo.buap.mx).

Chamada para cadastro de novos(as) pareceristas ad hoc

2023-03-28T18:46:06-03:00

A Revista Conjuntura Austral: Journal of the Global South informa que está aberta chamada para cadastro de pareceristas ad hoc. Desse modo, convidamos pesquisadores(as) que tenham interesse e disponibilidade para colaborar como pareceristas de textos acadêmicos em nosso periódico.

Os(as) interessados(as) devem se cadastrar por meio do Formulário do Google (https://www.seer.ufrgs.br/ConjunturaAustral/rev), colocando seus dados e indicando os temas com os quais mais se identificam. Os(as) pareceristas devem possuir titulação mínima de mestre(a).

Os(as) avaliadores(as) receberão certificado após a conclusão de cada parecer.

Agradecemos a atenção e nos colocamos à disposição para mais esclarecimentos.

Edição Especial: Chamada de Artigos: os 100 primeiros dias da política externa do novo Governo Lula

2022-12-14T18:13:01-03:00

O retorno do Brasil às Relações Internacionais?
Avaliando os 100 primeiros dias da política externa do novo Governo Lula

Eleito no segundo turno com mais de 60 milhões de votos, Lula retorna à presidência do Brasil para um terceiro mandato, com enormes desafios nacionais e internacionais. Internamente, tem como tarefas conter o aumento da miséria e da fome, buscar pacificar o país depois de anos de instabilidades políticas, fortalecer as instituições nacionais e democráticas, e, ao mesmo tempo, recuperar a capacidade de crescimento e desenvolvimento econômico.

As Relações Internacionais do Brasil são outro desafio. Mais de uma década após o término do mandato de Lula, a política externa brasileira se alterou drasticamente. Em 2010, o Brasil alcançava prestígio internacional, com atuação assertiva em diversas arenas globais. Entretanto, os efeitos da crise política e econômica interna e as transformações internacionais atingiram as bases deste modelo de inserção internacional, fragilizando-o e mostrando as suas limitações. Neste contexto, o processo de destituição da presidente Dilma Rousseff marcou a ascensão de um novo bloco de poder no Brasil, consolidado na eleição de Jair Bolsonaro. A nova política externa de Bolsonaro provocou uma ruptura com a tradição diplomática brasileira, e imprimiu, sob viés conservador, uma intensa desarticulação de projetos em andamento, tendo como resultados a desestruturação da Unasul, o afastamento de parceiros tradicionais, o enfraquecimento da cooperação Sul-Sul e a desconfiança do Brasil como parceiro confiável. No cenário das negociações do meio ambiente, o Brasil perdeu sua proeminência e capacidade de articulação, como ficou evidente nas últimas Cúpulas do Clima. O Brasil acumulou, nos últimos anos, um grande desgaste na área internacional.

As primeiras movimentações do novo governo eleito apontam para rapidamente alterar a postura internacional do Brasil, o que tem gerado boa receptividade externa, como visto na COP 27. A frase síntese é de que o “Brasil voltou ao cenário internacional”. Como será a política externa brasileira de Lula neste terceiro mandato? Conseguirá recuperar a capacidade de articulação do Brasil nos fóruns multilaterais? Reconstruirá o projeto de integração regional? Quais serão as parcerias estratégicas elencadas? Como se movimentará num cenário internacional mais complexo, marcado pela ampliação dos conflitos? Quais são as novidades a serem trazidas nesse terceiro mandato? Será capaz de conciliar interesses externos tão diversos quanto os de sua base de apoio? Estas são algumas das questões que pretendemos suscitar com este dossiê promovido pela Conjuntura Austral. A análise dos 100 primeiros dias de governo é usual entre os analistas políticos. É o período no qual um novo governo aponta as novas direções, no qual se confronta o plano de governo eleitoral com suas primeiras práticas, e também onde se verifica o peso das heranças deixadas pelos governos anteriores. Este dossiê, dessa forma, espera receber artigos acadêmicos que avaliem os primeiros 100 dias da política externa do Governo Lula, que iniciará em 1 de janeiro de 2023. Serão considerados artigos que discutam as mudanças estruturais da política externa brasileira, as relações bilaterais, o regionalismo e o papel do Brasil nos fóruns multilaterais. Ademais, recortes sobre interesses de grupos de pressão internos, novas coalizões de poder, bem como os constrangimentos e a recepção internacional também fazem parte do escopo deste dossiê.

Os artigos deverão ser enviados até o dia 20 de junho de 2023 e submetidos por meio do sistema da revista, que pode ser acessado neste link. Todos os artigos passarão por um processo de revisão duplo-cego por pares, e não há cobrança de qualquer tipo de taxa pela revista. As diretrizes e normas de publicação, bem como as instruções para submissão, podem ser encontradas no website da revista.

A publicação dos artigos selecionados está prevista para a edição v.14, n.68 (Out. -Dez.) da revista. Qualquer pergunta ou dúvida referente a este número especial da revista pode ser enviada à equipe editorial da revista (conjunturaaustral@ufrgs.br) e também aos editores do dossiê, Dr.ª Miriam Gomes Saraiva (miriamsaraiva@uerj.br) e Dr. André Luiz Reis da Silva (reisdasilva@hotmail.com).

Publicação da edição v. 13 n. 62 (2022)

2022-07-07T16:47:21-03:00

We would like to invite the entire academic community to appreciate the new issue of Conjuntura Austral: Journal of the Global South, published today (07/07).

Conjuntura Austral: Journal of the Global South receives contributions in a continuous flow, in the form of Scenario Analysis pieces, Research Articles, and Book Reviews, written in Portuguese, English or Spanish. It issues original scientific works whose theme falls within the broad area of International Relations, with an emphasis on topics relevant to the countries of the Global South. With Africa, Asia, and Latin America as the geographical area of coverage, its main focus is on the major themes of international relations, especially issues of security, diplomacy, and development.

Edição Especial: 25 Years of CPLP: Successes, Challenges and Opportunities

2021-11-04T00:00:00-03:00

In 2021, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP) completes 25 years of existence. The community was formally created in 1996 by Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and São Tomé and Príncipe, and now has a total of nine member countries, following the entry of East Timor and Equatorial Guinea.

To celebrate the 25 years of CPLP's existence, Conjuntura Austral: Journal of the Global South is planning a special issue under the supervision of Dr. Joseph Marques (Webster University, Geneva) as guest editor. All those interested in the topic are invited to send contributions – in Portuguese, English or Spanish – for this special issue which will be published in July 2022. This is a general call, with an international scope, and aims to bring together a set of reflections on the CPLP and the relationship between it and its members from the perspective of each one of its member countries, ensuring a diversity of approaches and thematic approaches.

If, on the one hand, the promotion of the Portuguese language has been CPLP’s main objective together with political-diplomatic concertation and economic cooperation, there remains a long list of themes with great potential for citizens of member countries which deserve urgent attention. After 25 years, the CPLP is still striving to impose itself in the international arena against a growing number of new political actors and multiple agendas. The special edition of Conjuntura Austral: Journal of the Global South aims to bring together texts that reflect on the importance of CPLP over the past 25 years, identifying successes and challenges from the point of view of each member country as well as the relevance of CPLP in the international arena. How to resolve the difference between the organization’s official discourse and the public opinion of civil societies in the different member countries? How to move from a community of countries to a community of peoples? What are the lessons to be drawn between official action and the multiple autonomous initiatives of groups spread across the world which aim to add informal synergies between the various Portuguese-speaking diasporas? What are the organization's possible future options? What are the current concrete challenges of leadership, availability of resources and different levels of priority given to the CPLP in the foreign policies of member countries? We hope that this special issue will foster greater dialogue between the authors and our readers, generate ideas and strategies for the block as a whole and for each of the member countries, and encourage further investigation and study by the academic community.

Articles must be submitted by February 15, 2022, and submitted through the journal's entry system. All articles will go through a double-blind peer review process, and there is no charge of any kind for publication. Publication guidelines and rules, as well as submission instructions, can be found on the journal's website at this link.

Any questions or concerns regarding this special issue of the magazine can be sent directly to the guest editor directly via email: joseph.marques@webster.ch